Zemlja upstages Tomic

GREGA Zemlja admits he hasn’t played the perfect tennis but the Slovenian believes he has been in the right frame of mind to make his mark.

Zemlja, who upstaged Australian hope Bernard Tomic 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the final of the $50,000 Caloundra International yesterday, said he now has the mental fortitude to deal with the demands of playing big matches.

“In the past my mental game was not at a high level but I’ve had some progress in the last two years and I’m really trying hard to give my best,” he said.

“The mental game, at this level, might be, for some guys, the biggest advantage,” he said.

Fifth seed Zemlja kept a cool head all week at Caloundra and only dropped one set on the way to winning the $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event.

“Throughout the whole week for me it was more about fighting, focusing on the next point and being professional and staying positive,” he said.

“I didn’t show the best tennis I can play but of course I’m certainly happy when I win the tournament.

He showed his composure at critical times during the competition.

“I won all four tiebreakers. Maybe I played my best points in all of those tiebreakers and I’m certainly glad that I did that,” he said.

“If you look at my activity in the past you would see that I lost many, many tiebreakers. This time it worked just perfect.

His resolve was particularly evident in yesterday’s first set.

After trading breaks early in proceedings, Zemlja pounced at 4-4 in the tiebreaker.

He won the next two points before Tomic hit a defensive forehand into the net to present the first set to the Slovenian.